New unified variables and variables declaration in GDevelop 5.4

[insein]

Hey,

Just giving my opinion on some things discussed here.

@BalangoDev

just add an option to declare the variable, and if you click it and it’s a new variable the variable will be added to the variables editor

@RMDB

that is what i offered above… but with autodeclaration…If GD knows which var you wrote it should be simple to add automatically to the vars list.

This sounds like a nice feature… but I don’t think it works in all situations. I’ll explain what I mean.

1. In the case of a simple variable, eg: NewVariable, this is fine.

2. In the case of arrays or structures, eg: Structure.Child.
   If Structure is not declared, then GDevelop would have to declare both variables.
   So Imagine if I type 3 or more new variables into the field, eg: Structure.ChildStruct.ChildStruct2.Child.
   Maybe this is also OK to let GDevelop create multiple variables all at once?

3. In the case of expressions.
   Eg: Structure[Name].Child -or- Array[Number].Child.
   How would GDevelop know where to declare the variables?
   It doesn’t work in this case.

4. With the current system, how would you tell GDevelop whether to declare the variable as a scene or a global variable? This would add an extra step.

I don’t think a feature is good or worth adding if it doesn’t always work.

@BalangoDev

I genuinely don’t understand why we can’t just have an object variable action/condition, a scene variable action/condition, and a global variable action/condition

Having 1 action/condition for scene & global variables allows to easily change a variable from one type to another. I find it way more useful this way.

Imagine you used a scene variable throughout a big project, and later you decided to change it to a global variable. Now you can simply delete the scene variable, declare it as a global variable, and you’re all set.

But if the events for scene & global variables are different, you’d have to search for all the actions & conditions and replace them manually. I faced this issue before and many hours of searching and fixing errors later, I finally was able to do the change. I’m not very good with math, but I think this is a LOT more time than simply delete → declare.

@BalangoDev

the main issue I have is with the GDevelop team somewhat living inside of their own bubble and not listening to community feedback

I have to disagree here. Check this topic out: [Feature in Backlog] A more efficient way to declare variables (from event sheet) - #14 by Luni